6 of swords - cut your losses
Three figures are in a boat, all facing away with backs turned. Seated is an adult cloaked in brown, and a child. Standing behind them is a man, manoeuvring the boat with a long black staff. Inside the boat, six swords stand upright with the points downwards. On the right side of the boat, the water is wavy, while the water on the opposite side is smooth. In the distance there is land, with rolling hills peppered with trees. The sky is clear and light grey.
6 of swords from the Rider Waite Smith Tarot
About a year and a half ago, I wrote a full moon article on the 6 of swords - which I recommend you re-read if you wish. I seemed to have covered a lot of ground then - the main theme being about getting distance and emotional ease from a situation. For respite from the troubles.
And this card is troubling. The shrouded and slumped figures and all that water evokes a moodiness and a palpable heaviness.
How’s your mood been? Are you okay?
I also suggested in the earlier article that a different viewpoint from across the water could help you have a new perspective on your situation. But now, I’m not so sure of that take.
I sense that this journey isn’t something the people in the boat will be returning from, to reframe, and resolve. We only see their backs, they are heading from choppy to calmer waters. Not to mention the ‘ferryman’ (more on him in a moment!).
They’re not coming back.
I’m more inclined towards an attitude of “cutting our losses”. This is the sword's suit after all. So despite emotional swampyness, we are being encouraged to use our thoughts and intellect to override the feeling to make a hard call.
What have you been enduring lately? Something that’s created excessive emotion?
How might using rationality and logic help take you out of your current hardship?
Often we can get stuck in a situation, or stay in a bad job, relationship, or habit for longer than is good for us, because the alternative doesn’t look any better. Or at least the outcome of a move isn’t clear. We don’t want to make a bad decision.
What is clear though is that the situation can’t continue - you just have to GO.
In Greek Mythology, Charon is the ferryman who escorts the souls of the dead to the underworld. Pretty bleak. But in the context of the 6 of swords being a minor card - the trip across the waters is not about that final journey, but perhaps a definitive one that suggests a clear ending - i.e. symbolic death - that’s related to an everyday situation, event or relationship.
How might it help to frame “leaving” or “letting go” as a “journey toward a new phase of life”?
There is also something quite soothing about allowing yourself to be steered and guided. You got yourself to the boat, you got in - despite the fears and angst, you’re on your way now. Can you now trust in a greater purpose, to cross the waters?
Cast your gaze to the distant horizon - it looks pretty nice over there right? Once you’ve given yourself a chance to grieve what could have been, perhaps you can turn toward the ‘what next’ and potential in this next chapter.